Sunday, November 6, 2011

KONGU FOODS (Continued)

Very few people like Bringal, variety of this vegetable is many and the recipes that can be cooked are in thousands, Here, find some authentic Kongu nadu dishes tried by me, they did come out good.This one has a combination of Garlic pods cooked with round purple Bringals, try it , its spicy......

*** In a Kadai or deep Pan heat the oil and add the mustard when it crackles add the jeera, then the onions and stir, add fenugreek, garlic curry leaves chilly powder ,turmeric, and coriander powder, sprinkle generous water and saute well on high heat, ensure you do not burn the contents.***Now, wash the bringal cut them into two , then slit it and add to the masalas give a good stir, add the tomato puree, tamarind extract salt to taste and cook on high heat till the bringals get cooked.***add the coconut milk and simmer for a few minutes, do not let it boil since the chances of the coconut milk getting curdled will be there,***serve hot garnished with fresh chopped coriander leaves.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Continuing about the Kongu food and its habits, I have chosen vegetables for a month to study them in depth and their habits the Kongu food recipes are adopted .

Bringal is a very common vegetable that is liked by many south Indians and cooked in many ways according to each region and their tastes. Bringal called KaTHRIKAI in Tamil is classified into many smaller groups when it comes to variety. I have just classified a few that came straight into my mind......

Neelam katrikai---------- Purple Bringal
Pinchu kathrikai--------- Small tender baby Bringal
Mullu kathrikai-----------This variety has small thorns on the stalk , even the plants have thorns
Neeta kathrikai---------- This is long in shape any size between 3---7 inches..

The Kongu people cook this Bringal in many traditional ways, known as PARAMBARAI SAMAYAL,Here are a few popular dishes that are made=
Kathrikai Kadaisal----in this dish the bringal is roasted on fire and then mashed, can also be boiled and mashed.
Thatta payar Kathrikai Kuzambu----Black eyed peas and Bringal in a spicy Gravy. this has always been a favourite dish of my mother, an excellent combination with steaming white rice.
Kathrikai More Kuzambu----bringal cooked in spicy butter milk.
Kathrikai Puli Kuzambu---Bringal cooked in spicy tamarind sauce , this is the most popular dish.

This vegetable Bringal is also cooked in many other forms, Fried, Pickled etc

Sunday, August 14, 2011

**Dal is cooked in different ways and seasoned with Onions, green chillies, mustard, jeera and curry leaves in a little bit of ghee or oil.

Thata payar and Mocha are mostly cooked with an addition of a vegetable like bringal, drumstick or bottle gourd with little of tamarind extract.

Here is a common dish made in many houses and also considered a specialty during some festivals, It is a combination of Toovar Dal, spices all made into a steamed ball and cooked in sour butter milk, this is an excellent combination with Rice Paruppu Urundai More KozhambuYou Need

**Soak the Dal, for an hour then grind with the red chilly, jeera coconut, coriander to coarse semi dry paste adding very little water so you can form a ball with this.**Steam these balls till cooked and keep aside.**Heat oil in a kadai, add the mustard when it crackles add the curry leaf, turmeric powder asofoetida saute for a while, add the butter milk mix well and simmer for a while , now add the steamed toovar balls season with required salt let it simmer for a couple if minutes .**Serve with hot rice and pickle

Kong food is not complete without preparation of pulses, Pulses with Cereals and grains provide the main source of food and energy for many people in this region These pulses are used whole or split. The most common varieties are:-
1- Pigeon Pea-( commonly known as toor/ tuvar Dal in India)

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Kongu Nadu Food (Continued)

Most Kongu's are related to Agriculture, farming, dairy and live stock, hence lot of Cereals, Pulses, fresh vegetables and fruits with dairy products are available and made use in their recipes and preparation, Though they had no Idea of Macro/Micro Nutrients, carbohydrates,fats,proteins and Calories etc they balanced their own Diets by way of---

**What food is cooling to the Human system**The food that produces Heat and so on.

With the Two category in food habits--- Vegetarian and Non Vegetarian, Animal proteins of Meat was not an everyday affair for the Non-vegetarians who kept this for weekends or Special occasions, hence the use of Cereals and Pulses became an every day affair in their eating habitsA brief about the Cereals and Pulses they grew and its usage:--

CEREAL'S

Cereals also known as Grains are rich in Protein, these are the staple food for many people. Some of the most popular Cereals used by Kongu's are , Rice, Millet, Maize In Rice they grow 2 varieties (short grain and brown Rice0- - In Millet's again two varieties ( Finger millet and Pearl millet) it is known as Ragi, then Maize which is known as Chollam

Sunday, January 23, 2011

KONGU NADU CUISINE

Well, I have received a few Mails and Queries . why I was so interested in Kongu Cuisine, and the recipes I am trying to collect. My Ancestors, my Parents are all from this region and to be precise in the heart of Kongu Nadu that is the Tirupur district and incidentally even I was born at my mothers native place, a remote village that hardly had about one thousand houses a few years back. One day as I was sitting and thinking after seeing Chef Jacob's blog and his activity on this cuisine,my mind got triggered to find out more and share my views with others.

I have eaten this type of food almost daily but never tried to find out from my mother what cuisine she cooked........brainstorming and recalling my old memories I do remember that when we were young there used to be Coconut in almost all the dishes, so also the use of Gingely oil, Pulses, Cereals, Jaggery, Coffee at home those days used to be made with Jaggery or Brown sugar, My Quest for this Kongu cuisine started after seeing Jacobs TV anchorage on Kongu cuisine so I sought he help of friends and Blogger's for me to upgrade on Kongu cuisine, also had to do a lot of reference on the pulses/cereals with their names ................ my own experience, observations made and my sought after information is really boosting me to share my views on KONGU Cuisine and the food habits of the people.

DO IT
*Put the coconut, red chilly, chick Peas, Tamarind salt to taste and blend with little water, this should not be fine but a bit coarse, remove and keep in a serving bowl.
* Heat that oil in a small pan, add thee mustard when it crackles add the urad Dal and pour over the mixture mix slightly and serve with the Pongal.
This is a ideal chutney and goes well with Idly and Dosa as well, however one can always increase the quantum of Red dry chilly to taste

Recalling the research done by Chef Jacob on Ethnic Kongu Nadu cuisine a few years back he explains about a unique dish that he came across, it is the VENNAI PONGAL..... (Butter Rice) at a place known as OOTHUKULI in Tirupur district. Now this village Oothu kuli is famous for its Ghee and many up market Brands come here to get it and then process it under their Brand, I got to know that people in this village maintain high standards of Hygiene even though they do not have the modern sophisticated equipments , Chef Jacob says that the Vennai Pongal was exotic and tasted brilliant,
Now, Starting with my recipes on Kongu Cuisine I have got a recipe for Venn Pongal made the Kongu way and contains only dry Items, not even a fresh curry leaf or Green chilly is used except for Fresh Ginger just for flavour, I used this fresh Ginger since I was not able to get Ginger Powder, known as SUKKU podi in Tamil ,
Try this for Pongal 2011 along with this coconut chutney.

DO IT
* Wash the rice and Dal together, drain and keep aside,
*In a Rice cooker heat 2 tbsp of Butter , add rice and Dal and mix well on slow fire till the butter coats the mixture well, Now add the Pepper and Jeera powder, ginger paste and asafoteda, mix well, add the water salt to taste.
*Check and stir frequently so that the mixture does not get stuck to the bottom once cooked dry and well mashed remove and keep on a hot plate,
*In a pan melt the balance butter and saute the cashew nuts till golden colour and pour over mixture, Mix well and serve

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Starting the year 2011, I have done a lot of rigging and cooking to explore more about KONGU NADU cuisine, This cuisine is catching up and will get more exposure in many cities of Tamil Nadu. Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar has already worked a lot on this particular cuisine and also opened 2 Restaurants in Chennai City under the name RASAM which is owned by SRI KRISHNA SWEETS , the two restaurants are purely Vegetarian.

Now, let me give a small topography about KONGU NADU and here we go.it is brief since I have taken a lot of my time referring To Wikipedia and other Blogs;---------------

KONGU NADU ........... This is a region on the western part of TamilNadu, on the West to North west is the state of Karnataka,, Madurai and other districts on the East and West is the adjoining State of Kerala,Some of the present day Districts that come under Kongu Nadu are Coimbatore , Salem, Tirupur, Erode, Nilgiris then parts of Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and also the close borders of Karnataka place known as Erumaiyur( Buffalo Village).

Referring to a Few Chefs and other blogger , I understand that the KonguNadu cuisine is very simple and more extensive than Chettinad since the area is also vast or rather the Region of Kongu Nadu.

Some of the aspects that make Kongu Nadu cuisine special are:-------

**Most recipes have their own nativity and Style.

**Food is not Oily and Spicy has a unique texture and flavour.

**Roasted Groundnut in form of paste or powder, Gingely seeds fresh Turmeric is added to most dishes hence it has a different flavour and aroma ,considerable amount of pulses are also used

**Where ever Non Vegetarian is cooked it is always Mutton or Chicken that finds its place as Number One , since Sea food has to be brought from the East Coast or West Coast shores, farming of Chicken and Goats are a main occupation. Incidentally eggs are exported to many Middle Eastern Countries from the Kongu Nadu region since they are produced in Abundance